


Night among the preys

by Bl4ckHunter



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: AU season 5, Metahuman apocalypse, Other, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-20 08:57:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19989475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bl4ckHunter/pseuds/Bl4ckHunter
Summary: One-shot story. AU in Season 5. Caitlin finds herself in an apocalyptic wasteland after Metahuman outbreak.





	Night among the preys

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note and Disclaimer:
> 
> Something that occured to me after reading Justice League, playing Resident Evil and re-reading my story "When Hell Freezes Over".
> 
> I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.

Caitlin came to, in abandoned S.T.A.R. Labs that she recognized, in ruins as she wondered what just happened. The last thing she remembered, was normally talking with Joe, Barry, Ralph and everyone else about working together on how to take down another Meta and now…

"Hello? Barry? Cisco?" Caitlin called out before she walked down S.T.A.R. Labs. "What's going on?"

She noticed that the entire building was abandoned and ransacked and there was no Flash suit, the power was working but she could not turn on the computers before she tried to call out again. "Iris? Joe? Wally? Harry? Anyone?"

* * *

Caitlin went outside to see streets abandoned, most of the streets turned into ruins, just like how Sara described Star City 2046 as storm raged outside before she saw a man in flames running.

"Jax?" Caitlin wondered. The man in flames turned to her, his face hideous as he threw fireballs. Caitlin dodged and took cover behind a wrecked car. "OK, you're definitely not Jax."

Caitlin attempted to turn into Killer Frost but nothing happened, much to her shock. She ran as the metahuman fired more fireballs as the wreckage exploded.

A moment later, the metahuman was shot down by some lasers, like weapons that S.T.A.R. Labs use as Caitlin turned to see some men in hazmat suits. Caitlin had no time to react as the men shot her too and she passed out and fell down.

* * *

Suddenly, Caitlin felt cold water splash on her bare skin as she screamed and trembled as they roughly brushed her bare skin and she tried to struggle but the men were too rough and strong to fight back and she couldn't turn into Killer Frost either before she realized they were decontaminating her before they turned off the water and Caitlin curled to a ball, trembling from the cold and naked before they threw a blanket on her and a gown and Caitlin used it to cover herself and warm up before someone else entered as Caitlin glared as she was getting dressed.

"You must have had fun—"

" _Don't_ try anything or I'm going to put you down." The man said and Caitlin immediately recognized the voice, despite that his face was covered in shadows.

"Oliver?"

Oliver went out from the shadows, with scarred face as Caitlin widened her eyes in disbelief, wondering what happened to her friend. He had longer beard and looked like if he had been through decades of hell instead of five years.

Caitlin tried to get up but Oliver pulled out a gun, shooting few inches away from her.

"I said, don't try anything."

"Oliver, what the hell are you doing?" Caitlin asked, completely confused.

"Who are you? Shapeshifter? Telepath?" Oliver demanded.

"Oliver, it's me. It's Caitlin." Caitlin said but Oliver was unconvinced.

"Caitlin Snow died three months ago." Oliver said. "Alongside with Barry, Cisco, Ralph and Wally. So let's try this again." Caitlin stared in shock, confusion and disbelief, wondering if she was in a nightmare as Oliver aimed at her face. "Who are—"

"I already told you, it's me! It's Caitlin. Please." Caitlin begged. "I don't know what's going on but you have to believe me."

"Did you think we would welcome you here with open arms? You show up out of nowhere after three months and you think I'll just say 'hello'?" Oliver sneered. "Caitlin, Ralph and Wally died, when they were trying to evacuate a small colony in Ontario."

"Oliver, I don't know what you're talking about!" Caitlin exploded as she got up, while everyone aimed guns at her.

"What are you? Shapeshifter? Chameleon? Telepath? From another Earth? How did you get past our defenses—"

"I'm not a fake, Oliver!" Caitlin snapped. "I just woke up in S.T.A.R. Labs and—"

"That's not possible. No one should be able to get there alive." Oliver laughed.

"I don't know what else I can say to make you believe me." Caitlin begged. "But it's me. Your friend. I'm the person you've always known, Oliver. And I don't want to hurt you."

Oliver considered as he narrowed his eyes. She certainly sounded genuine, so what was going on?

Suddenly, an alarm blared.

"Perimeter breach!" One of the men said.

"You led them here!" Oliver glared at Caitlin.

"What? No! Oliver, please—"

Oliver used metahuman power dampening cuffs and restrained Caitlin to a pipe.

"Pray we'll all make it." Oliver warned her as he left.

"Oliver! Oliver!" Caitlin called out.

* * *

Roy, Sin and some soldiers were on the walls, shooting down some zombies with their guns as one of them spat out some liquid that made the concrete melt before Sin shot the zombie in the head.

* * *

The room Caitlin was in, trembled as the pipe went loose and Caitlin freed herself before she found a needle she used as a lockpick.

* * *

Sin was scratched by one of the zombies before Roy shot it down.

Sin fell down and coughed as her skin was turning green and her eyes were glowing.

Oliver aimed at Sin's head.

"Oliver, there's gotta be another—"

Roy was interrupted when Oliver shot Sin in the head as blood spattered.

"You know there's no cure, Roy." Oliver said as Roy looked stunned by Oliver having to kill one of their closest friends. "I'm sorry. But it's mercy compared to what happened to Thea."

Roy looked sad at the memory.

" _Sir, the prisoner has escaped._ "

* * *

Caitlin went into an underground tunnel until she found a keypad and typed in the code as the door opened.

Caitlin entered before she went up to enter S.T.A.R. Labs. Caitlin again tried to look around before she noticed a corpse on the table, wearing a familiar red suit. Caitlin approached it and then, her heart shattered to see one of her closest friends and a man, for whom she might have had feelings, dead, making her wonder what happened.

Then, she turned around to see a young blonde girl as Caitlin heard clanking as the girl stumbled upon a cart of medical tools.

"Please, don't hurt me."

"I won't hurt you." Caitlin promised.

* * *

Caitlin was with the girl in the dining room as she was glad that there were still some of Cisco's protein bars for Barry.

"What's your name? I'm Caitlin." Caitlin said as she handed the girl one of the bars as the girl smiled upon tasting it.

"Grace. Grace Gibbons." The girl said. "I've been hiding here for a while, since the monsters came out."

"Monsters? When exactly did it start? I wasn't exactly able to keep track." Caitlin wondered.

"It's been six months. No one knows what happened. Just that many people turned into metahumans and then zombies." Grace explained. "They've killed my parents. I've been on my own since then."

"No friends? No other relatives?" Caitlin asked as Grace shook her head.

"Everyone else I knew, either ran to the colonies, got infected or died." Grace said.

"I'm sorry." Caitlin said, feeling some sympathy for her as she wondered how did this all happened.

"It's not safe here. They'll find us." Grace said. "They'll always find us."

"And where would we go?" Caitlin challenged.

* * *

Caitlin tried to remember Cisco's tricks as she managed to turn on one of the computers and she saw some video files that she turned on to see herself on the recordings.

" _The infection is spreading too fast… the city has been evacuated… it seems that the virus is quickly… I'm not sure we can cure this plague…_ "

The videos were then buzzing and too corrupted for Caitlin to get the full story as she sighed, cursing that she wasn't as good in computer skills as Cisco or Felicity.

"Oh, my God…"

She then heard clanking as Caitlin picked one of the rifles before she went out, scouring the corridors before she knocked a man from around the corner down on the ground to reveal Oliver.

"Don't." Caitlin said, aiming at Oliver's head.

"Easy…" Oliver said. "I'm not looking for trouble…"

"Then why are you…" Caitlin stopped to see Oliver bleeding from the hip.

"What do you think?" Oliver challenged. "More Amazos. This time I was the only one to make it out."

Caitlin sighed, feeling some sympathy for him as she helped him get up. "Come on, I'll patch you up." Despite his initial treatment towards her, she still considered Oliver a friend. She accompanied Oliver to medical room as she disinfected and stitched up his wound. "How did you get in? I managed to lock this place down."

"Sewers." Oliver explained. "Don't worry. No one else asides from us knew about them."

"I wonder why am I helping you, after how you greeted me." Caitlin muttered.

"Because that's who you are. A good person with a good heart. You don't want to see people suffer, no matter how dangerous they might be." Oliver reminded as he and Caitlin smiled at each other before she finished stitching him up.

Caitlin sat down and pulled out her gloves before she saw how Oliver was looking at her with narrowed eyes.

"What?" Caitlin asked.

"Three months ago, the U.S. army bombarded a colony in Ontario and you were there trying to treat the infected. Fifteen thousand people gone, you, Ralph and Wally included. And Barry, Laurel and Dinah tried to fight back against those creeps but they succumbed to the virus too." Oliver said. "And now you show up, alive and alright?" He narrowed his eyes. "How is this—"

"I don't know. I don't remember anything before today. The last thing I remember, was being in India with Julian, for a research for the cure for metahumans and now this… those monsters… you…"

Oliver narrowed his eyes as he looked at Caitlin.

"You look peachy. You must have had shelter, food, home… is there a colony I don't know about?" Oliver inquired.

"Oliver, I don't know what do you want me to say. It's like if I was in a nightmare right now. I'm as confused as you are, maybe even more." Caitlin said.

Oliver sighed, like if he had lost everything. "They're all gone. It's all gone. Everything we've worked on, everyone we've ever cared about… gone!" Caitlin stared at Oliver in sympathy and sadness. "This is worse than nightmare!"

Caitlin had tears in her eyes. "Please, just help me understand."

* * *

"At first, almost everyone in Central City got powers. Not sure how it happened, all we know was that someone released something, some sort of a virus. We've never found out who or what, all we know is that it gave people powers, like metahumans. Some of them abused them, not different from the usual types you've been fighting. Others… tried to help. Like you. But usually made things worse instead, so it made your jobs thrice as hard." Oliver said. "But later it got much, much worse. They had become mad, feral, like animals. First, you tried to isolate them and treat them. But there was no way to contain them, they were too unstable, so we had to put them down."

"And then the virus spread." Caitlin nodded.

"Both the humans and Metas got infected." Oliver nodded. "They attack everything that moves. Only one thing they want, blood. It didn't turn the Metas but it killed them. Slowly and painfully. Eventually, Barry and Cisco became victims to it." Caitlin's eyes filled with tears. "It took hours, few days at most for them to turn."

"And you never found out the point of—"

"The virus spread too fast for us to pinpoint the source." Oliver explained as Caitlin sighed. "We tried to slow it down but nothing helped. Then we sedated them instead of curing. But eventually…"

Caitlin sighed even deeper.

"The governments evacuated cities and decided for nuclear warheads, it was worldwide panic, most of the survivors ran to colonies overseas. There may be… millions at best. But too scattered across the globe to fight back." Oliver summed up. "They're on Artic, islands, countryside… we barely have any weaponry to fend off the infected, so fighting back was next to impossible. Before you think about it, time travel didn't work either. The Legends and Barry got infected too."

"Why can't I remember anything?" Caitlin wondered.

"You might have made it out. Took a shelter in a colony, amnesia, shock—"

"No. It wasn't like that." Caitlin said. "There's gotta be a reason I came here, now, today—"

"Caitlin…" Grace said weakly. "I'm… I don't feel…" Suddenly, she fainted.

Caitlin got up but Oliver blocked her way. "Caitlin, don't touch her! She's infected, didn't you—"

"There's no way I could've known!" Caitlin protested. Oliver was about to kill Grace as he pulled out his gun. "No! You said we have hours! I might have time to figure it out."

"If she turns, they'll find—"

"If she turns, run. Oliver, I'm a doctor and I took an oath, to save a life, if I can. And I won't let you kill her, not if there's a chance we can save her." Caitlin said. "Please."

Oliver considered before nodding. "If she turns—"

"Do what you have to do. But it's not too late yet." Caitlin said.

* * *

" _Asides from rise of immunoglobin, the concoction had no effect. Dark matter is still in the bloodstream and…_ "

"We've tried this already and it didn't work." Oliver said as Grace was restrained to a gurney and Caitlin was going through the old files on the computer.

"At least let me compare Grace's symptoms with the old records from my previous research. I may be able to find something that I've overlooked—"

"They're like grasshoppers, there's no way you can—"

"Caitlin, you're not listening! There's no curing it! We've tried it already!" Oliver exploded, looking at Caitlin, sad.

"I'm sorry I disappeared. But you should know me well enough that I'll never stop trying to save lives first, if I can." Caitlin said before they heard explosions.

* * *

A metahuman with rock skin was trying to break into the lab but Caitlin froze him. Oliver fired explosive arrows as a metahuman bled out and as the blood touched other metahumans, they melted due to the acidic blood.

* * *

"The backup generators are still working." Caitlin said.

"The security measures should hold them off." Oliver nodded as the lights turned on.

"Oliver, what happened to everyone else?" Caitlin asked after a moment as she continued her research. "Curtis was developing weapons for A.R.G.U.S and the government, alongside with John and Lyla. Rene and Dinah were in the army, trying to fend off the infected but Dinah was infected later too. Rene had to put her down but not before she fatally wounded him." Oliver explained. "Felicity was helping with the evacuations. I haven't heard from her in a while. The Legends… I don't know. We called out and they said they'd try to find a cure. We've never heard from them. Sara stayed to help us."

"I remember I was looking into the Philosopher stone with Cisco and Julian. Looking for any… ancient… things that might have dark matter in them and I investigated with them a story about gods in Peru, some… men of fire and water… they might have been metahumans." Caitlin said.

"This wouldn't help us now." Oliver said.

"I'm just trying to remember, Oliver." Caitlin said.

"I know you came looking for something and I don't know what it was. All I know, when you came back, Cicada stole it later and then you fought for it." Oliver explained.

Caitlin then started to put it all together. "The metahuman cure… with proper knowledge and the right equipment…"

"They could create a virus." Oliver said, putting it all together. "Barry never told me what happened with Cicada. When he tried to, he became sick."

Suddenly, they heard roars as Grace started to scream and her eyes glowed.

"No!" Oliver said before he pulled out a gun and shot her in the head.

"What did you do?!" Caitlin demanded.

"It's too late for her. That scream, it's what attracts those things." Oliver said before he heard smashing. "They're coming. I'll buy you some time."

Caitlin nodded before Oliver turned to her. "Caitlin. If you make it out… Sara and I… we have a daughter. Mia. Mia Queen. We sent her away with William and Felicity. If you make it out—"

"I'll find them. I promise." Caitlin nodded as Oliver nodded too before he left into the corridor with his gun.

Caitlin went going over her old notes.

"Dark matter from the artifact accelerated mutation in human cells… affecting metahuman cells…"

"It was the artifact." Caitlin realized. "It's what released the virus. It was all me…"

* * *

Suddenly, Caitlin appeared in some kind of a tomb as she held in her hand a stone similar to Philosopher's stone as in front of her appeared a man surrounded by lightning, like any other speedster.

"You're hiding it from the world. Guarding it." Caitlin realized. "You won't let me take it and you won't let me destroyed it either."

The speedster nodded.

"I won't take it. I promise." Caitlin said. "No one will ever find it, will they?"

The speedster shook its head.

"Let me go. I promise I won't come looking for it, ever again, please." Caitlin pleaded as the speedster disappeared. "Thank you."

Caitlin went out from the tomb.

* * *

Later, Caitlin went out into the camp as Julian greeted her.

"Hey. Did you find it?"

"No." Caitlin said.

"Weird." Julian said. "We all spent a lot of time looking for it."

"It was already gone." Caitlin lied.

"Cisco is going to be pissed we didn't find it. The metahuman cure can help." Julian pointed out.

"Or maybe it could become something really dangerous in the wrong hands." Caitlin pointed out.

"You think Cisco shouldn't create a cure—"

"No, all I'm saying is that we should be careful with what we might find and use. In the wrong hands, the metahuman cure can become a plague for metahumans or worse." Caitlin said.

"Maybe you're right. If Cicada gets his hands on the cure, he might turn it into a weapon. Or the government could." Julian admitted. "I think we need to talk with Cisco about the possible repercussions."

**Author's Note:**

> If you remember my story, "When Hell Freezes Over", the scenario "Metahuman zombie apocalypse" did occur in my mind but I did not want to go into that direction because I had been going into enough extreme direction and wanted to go into more of a redemption theme.
> 
> So, instead, I tried to do a different AU scenario, "What if...". Hope you've enjoyed it.
> 
> Plus, Metahuman cure is a compelling storyline but Cisco didn't think that Cicada could use it as a weapon and a metahuman virus to kill all metas and look what happened in Season 5. And Cisco didn't tell about it to anyone but Caitlin until later and this was something that was affecting the whole team.
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have enjoyed this one-shot.
> 
> With regards
> 
> Bl4ckHunter


End file.
